## Three-Seed Sourdough Bread

***JMonkey***

> This is a great dinner bread – the seeds add a rich nutty flavor to
> the loaf, which is already full of sourdough flavor. It’s a bit too
> much for most sandwiches, though.
>
> This recipe was adapted from _Bread_ by Jeffrey Hammelman.

**Overall Formula**

* White flour: 80%
* Whole wheat flour: 20%
* Water: 80%
* Salt: 2.3% (high, because of all the seeds)
* Sunflower seeds, toasted: 12%
* Sesame seeds, toasted: 6%
* Flaxseeds: 7%
* Water: 75%

20% of the flour is in the starter (which should be a whole wheat
starter), which is at 60% hydration

**Ingredients**

**Soaker**

* Flaxseeds: 30 grams or 3 Tbs
* Water: 120 grams or ½ cup + 1 Tbs

**Final Dough**

* White flour: 370 grams or about 3 cups
* Water: 235 grams or 1 cup + 1 Tbs
* Stiff whole wheat starter: 160 grams or about ½ cup
* Salt: 11 grams or 1.5 tsp
* Sunflower seeds, toasted: 60 grams or 1/3 cup + 2 Tbs
* Sesame seeds, toasted: 34 grams or ¼ cup
* All of the flaxseed soaker

**Making the Soaker**

Mix the flaxseeds and the water for the soaker together. Cover and let
sit overnight.

**Toasting**

Spread the sesame and sunflower seeds on a cookie sheet and toast them
for 5 to 6 minutes at 380\degree. Unless you have a high-end toaster
oven, I'd recommend avoiding it -- some will burn, while others will
be raw. Very unpleasant.
         
 **Mixing**
 
Dissolve the starter into the water, and then add the salt and the
soaker Finally add the flour and seeds. Mix until everything is
hydrated.
          
**Dough development and the first rise**

However you develop the dough, from the time you mix until the time
you shape the dough, it’ll take about 4 hours for the first rise at
room temperature.

**Shaping**

Be gentle. You want to retain as many of those air bubbles as
possible. Rounds and batards are the traditional shapes.

**Second rise and retarding**

Sourdoughs benefit quite a bit from retarding -- they often taste
better. You can simply cover the shaped dough and place it in the
fridge or, if you’re lucky and the overnight temperature will be
between 45 and 55, you can simply place it outside, in which case the
bread will probably be ready to bake when you wake up.

If you put it in the fridge, it’ll need to warm up for 3-4 hours to
complete its rise.

If you don’t want to bother with retarding, you can let it rise for
another 3 hours at room temperature. You can also speed things up (and
increase sourness) by placing the dough on an upturned bowl in the
bottom of a picnic cooler, throwing a cup of boiling water in the
bottom and covering it quickly. After an hour, throw another cup of
hot water in. The rise should only take a couple of hours this way.

**Baking**

Score the bread as you like. Hash marks are traditional for rounds,
and batards usually take a single, bold stroke down the center or a
couple of baguette-style slashes.

While you can certainly bake this bread on a cookie sheet, it benefits
from a stone and some steam, or a covered baker.  However you do it,
bake at 450\degree F for about 40 minutes.